Abstract

NASA’s Understanding Needs to Broaden Outside Use of NASA Data (UNBOUND) Program aims to engage with and better understand the needs of data users who may be interested in or currently using NASA data in their work.

Community ground observations paired with remote sensing data can provide Tribal organizations and colleges with resources and tools needed to confront climate challenges and plan for resilient futures. NASA has rich and free data that can be used in planning for climate change; however, access to and use of this data can be challenging. UNBOUND for Food, Energy and Water in Tribal Communities engaged current and future data users in workshops to help NASA improve accessibility and use of data products in Tribal communities.

The “food-energy-water” (FEW) framework is a holistic view of environmental impacts that affect quality of life. The FEW nexus is sensitive to changes in climate, and tracking it can help communities better understand the adaptations needed to become more resilient. NASA data is ideally suited to meet this need. Designed for use by the scientific community, however, it is unclear how accessible NASA data is to users outside of academia. This workshop series brings together scientists and community leaders to test and explore different NASA data tools that are relevant to the FEW framework and have great potential for use in community resilience efforts.